This invention relates to a method of preparing support runners for an object, and more particularly relates to an apparatus for supporting an object for shipment.
In the preparation of hard goods for shipment, such as major appliances, it is an accepted practice to mount these goods onto runners or skids, the runners or skids absorbing shock and preventing damage to the goods during shipment. After the goods have reached their destination the support runners are usually removed from the major appliances and discarded. Presently, the most common support runners utilized in the shipment of major appliances are runners comprised of a pair of strips of wood with shock absorbing material, such as a resilient foam material, sandwiched therebetween, the runners being attached in parallel along opposing edges of the appliance. However, with the increasing cost of wood in the manufacture of these runners, it has been necessary to find a more economical means of support for these goods, as well as one that will withstand shock and prevent damage in shipment from the manufacturing plant to the ultimate point of use. Other suggested supports have included fiberboard supports with polyurethane foam therein such as those described in British Pat. No. 1,144,715. However, upon stacking the supported objects one on top of the other, for several layers, the fiberboard supports as noted in British Pat. No. 1,144,715 containing diagonally disposed supports therein with polyurethane in between tend to collapse.